Stephen Vasciannie, Contributor
LAST TUESDAY and Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice and the Northern Caribbean University put on a major symposium on human rights in Jamaica, relying on various persons involved in aspects of human rights promotion and protection within the country, and with a keynote speech by Maarit Kohonen, a representative of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights. The symposium was well-attended, and there was significant participation from the floor.
Nowadays, whenever an issue arises in society, it is commonplace to say we need more public education. Public education, like motherhood, is of course almost always a good thing. But, as many people who have put together public education initiatives on different issues will tell you, sometimes public education falls flat because of poor attendance at public functions. With this in mind, it was especially heartening that there was a good turnout for last week's symposium.
What are human rights, and where do they come from? As the president of the Norman Manley Law School's Human Rights Society put it last week, human rights are rights which we have simply because we are human. They represent the minimum to which we are entitled as human members of society.
SOURCES
Identifying the basic sources of our human rights has always been a matter of controversy. On one perspective, human rights can be traced back ultimately to religious foundations, for all the great religions of the world recognise the dignity and intrinsic worth of human beings. And, it is undeniable that many of those who have given sum and substance to modern conceptions of human rights draw their inspiration from Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and so on.
Others, however, prefer more secular perspectives, or feel that there is no particular need to tie the concept of human rights to religion in general, or to any one religion in particular. Thus, the secularist is apt to suggest that human rights come out of the way we organise society, and the place of individuals within this pattern of organisation. For some, therefore, the concept of human rights emerges from the fact that we have given some powers to the state to ensure for peace, good order and security in society.
Though we give such powers to the state, we implicitly reject the notion that the state is unlimited in its influence over us. In organising society, we say, for example, that the state may incarcerate persons, but only in certain circumstances: hence, we are to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention. Likewise, our grant of power to the state does not imply the notion that the state may brutalise us: hence, we are free from cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment. And, most importantly, in giving powers to the state, we certainly do not authorise the state to kill people without giving them a fair trial with significant safeguards: hence, the significance of the right to life in human rights discourse.
UNITED NATIONS
The debate on the origins of the concept of human rights continues in some contexts, but, in practice, greater emphasis is now placed on the identification of particular rules concerning human rights, and on putting these rules into effect. In this regard, the United Nations has played a central role.
Given that the United Nations Charter was formulated in the immediate aftermath of World War II and, in particular, the horrors of the Holocaust, it is not surprising that the Charter requires member states of the United Nations to promote and protect individual human rights. The Charter is, however, worded in very general terms, and so, there was an early effort to lend greater specificity to the human rights rules to be supported by the United Nations. This early effort led to the formulation of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 1948.
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights is a resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations. In its 30 articles, it lists the following as our civil and political rights, among others:
The right to life, liberty and security of person;Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;Freedom from discrimination;Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention;The right to a fair and public hearing;The presumption of innocence;Freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home or correspondence;Freedom of movement;The right to marry and found a family;Freedom of thought, conscience and religion;Freedom of expression.As a resolution of the General Assembly, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights is not automatically binding as law. It has, however, exerted profound influence on the way we view human rights law. The impact of the Declaration and other human rights issues will be considered next week.
Stephen Vasciannie is a professor at the University of the West Indies and a consultant in the attorney-general's chambers.
